The East-West Center (EWC) is at the forefront of educating people of the Asia Pacific region to meet the evolving demands of global change. Since its founding in 1960, the Center has promoted the development of a stable, prosperous, and peaceful Asia Pacific community through programs of cooperative study, training, and research.

The East-West Center’s AsiaPacificEd Program for Schools supports the Center’s mission by providing global learning and exchange opportunities for educators and students in the United States and in the Asia Pacific region.

The Asia Pacific Higher Education Research Partnership is a membership organization consisting of some twenty-five universities, ministries of education and quality assurance entities joined together to identify, explore and conduct research on key issues of higher education change within the Asia Pacific Region.

A joint program of the East-West Center and the University of Hawai’i, ASDP offers a variety of content-focused faculty and institutional development programs and activities centered around summer residential institutes, field seminars in Asia, workshops on the U.S. mainland, and an annual academic conference.

The East-West Center is a leader in educating people of the Asia Pacific region, including the United States, to meet the evolving demands and interdependency of global change. The Center offers a range of educational opportunities, bringing together more than 300 students each year from across the region.

The East-West Center Research Program engages the research and policy communities in the US and the Asia Pacific on issues of common concern. The goal is to provide more complete knowledge and deeper understanding of the environments, societies, economies, and governments of the Asia Pacific region.

The East-West Center is engaged in collaborative research projects in three broad areas: environment, population, and health; innovation, economic integration, and growth; and governance, security, and justice.

East-West Seminars offers short-term dialogue, field study, travel and exchange opportunities for working professionals in politics, government, civil society, business and the media who are in positions to affect policy, shape public opinion and influence change in their countries and communities. Programs provide opportunities for leading professionals from the United States and Asia Pacific to exchange views, build networks, develop leadership skills, and deepen knowledge of regional issues.

Journalism fellowships and exchanges for working American and Asia Pacific journalists promote understanding of the complexities of the Asia Pacific region through study tours. Intensive dialogue with colleagues, government officials, business executives and community leaders provides participants with a means to broaden their network of contacts.

The Asia Pacific Center for Journalists at the East-West Center in Honolulu leads the region in the vast array of programs and resources it offers journalists on Asia Pacific issues, including 10 fellowship travel programs for American, Asian and Pacific island journalists; a news service providing diverse commentary and analysis on breaking and ongoing Asia Pacific stories; comprehensive, updated online news coverage of the Pacific islands; and quick access to the East-West Center's specialists and 50,000 alumni throughout the region.

Pacific Islands Report is a nonprofit news publication of the Pacific Islands Development Program at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. Offered as a free service to readers around the world, PIR provides an edited digest of news, commentary and analysis from across the Pacific region, Monday through Friday.

The East-West Center-Sasakawa USA Congressional Staff Program on Asia is a bipartisan educational certificate program, which aims to equip Congressional staffers with greater knowledge of US-Asia policy in order to better understand America’s role in and engagement with this dynamic region and the policy implications that will directly engage Congress. Applications are being accepted now through August 1, 2016

The East-West Center Association (EWCA) is an international network of professionals who have a past affiliation with the East-West Center. There are no membership fees to participate in the EWCA. The Association is led by an international Executive Board representing the various professions, regions, and decades of its members. Collectively, they are contributing to global understanding, building an Asia Pacific community, and making a world of difference.

The East-West Center Association (EWCA) is an international network of professionals who have a past affiliation with the East-West Center. There are no membership fees to participate in the EWCA. The Association is led by an international Executive Board representing the various professions, regions, and decades of its members. Collectively, they are contributing to global understanding, building an Asia Pacific community, and making a world of difference.

With more than 62,000 alumni and associates around the world, the East-West Center has one of the largest networks of professionals working to advance international cooperation and understanding between the East and West. As part of that network, you can receive advice and support from associates throughout the region. As an alumni/associate you may join any one of the nearly 50 EWC alumni chapters in Asia, the Pacific and the U.S. While traveling, you can also contact local chapters for assistance in making contacts with colleagues and friends.

The East-West Center seeks to build a strong, peaceful and vibrant Asia-Pacific community as an anchor of a global community which features China and the US as strong partners. Special Projects focuses on China-US philanthropy exchange and other leadership and education projects primarily associated with China. Major projects include the East-West Philanthropists Summit and the China-US Strategic Philanthropy Partnership (CUSP).

In 2012, the latent dispute over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands developed into a serious contaminant of Sino-Japan relations. Why did this “Senkaku Conundrum” breakout? Why did then-Governor of Tokyo Shintaro Ishihara announce his plan to purchase the islands and why did the Noda Administration decide to nationalize them? Why, months later, is China continuing its radical response to that move? Does there appear to be a correlation between China’s leadership change and the Senkaku issue? Will China resort to military force? If so, what will the Abe administration’s response be?

Dr. Yasuhiro Matsuda made an effort to offer some answers to this string of questions surrounding the pressing territorial issue in the East China Sea, attempting to present the dispute from all sides and eras- historically, at present, and into the future. After examining the various domestic pressures acting on the leadership of both Japan and China over the islands, Dr. Matsuda concluded that high tension could continue until both Prime Minister Abe and President Xi Jinping solidify their political positions. While neither side wants war, the price of concession is high for both sides, and the Senkaku/Daioyu issue could continue to simmer with regional reprocussions should it boil-over again.

Dr. Yasuhiro Matsuda is a Professor at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia at the University of Tokyo. His research specialties include the political and diplomatic history of Asia, politics and foreign relations in the PRC and Taiwan and cross-strait relations, and Japan’s foreign and security policies. Prior to joining the faculty at Tokyo University, he spent sixteen years as a Research Fellow at the National Institute for Defense Studies (NIDS), part of the Japan Defense Agency (now Ministry of Defense.) He was a member of the Council on Security and Defense Capability in the New Era, the advisory group of the Prime Minister in 2010. He is the winner of the seventh Yasuhiro Nakasone Award of Excellence in 2011 and has published numerous books and articles in Japanese and English. His most recent English-language publication is “Taiwan in the China-Japan-US Triangle,” in Getting the Triangle Straight: Managing China-Japan-US Relations, [Japan Center for International Exchange, 2010]. He received his Ph.D. in Law in 2003 from the Graduate School of Law at Keio University and his MA in International Studies in 1990 from the Graduate School of Area Studies, Tokyo University.